Reflections
by Rosebloodythorn
Summary: Old story uploaded New chapters
1. Chapter 1

Reflections

Artemis watched the snow delicately swept by the breeze outside of his study window. He knew that no monitor in a dark room could compare to the light the snow gave off in the winter night. His eyes flicked to the moon that glowed upon the endless white. A crescent tonight, the moon distracted him from his most recent plan. But he knew that his emotions were uneasy beneath his stoic countenance. He seemed ever afflicted by the guilt, as normal humans called it. But Artemis was not a normal human boy. He knew this well, and had kept to that until tonight. It seemed strange that he was feeling this strange unrest now. He was protected by multiple security systems outside of the mansion. On top of this, he had an exceptionally trained member of the Butler family protecting him outside of the door. He had no reason to feel threatened. The voice, however, was always in the back of his mind. He had learned to block it out when he had picked up his father's notorious schemes. He was in for the fortune of a lifetime if he could hack into the largest bank account he had come across yet. It was not difficult to hack into the system, but it was difficult to do so without leaving behind any traceable signal from his computer. Although he had the most advanced technology, he needed to disguise himself everywhere he visited. Long ago, he had learned to mask his computer's identity on a network. This evening, however, would prove to be different. Butler strode into the study, breaking the chain of thoughts in Artemis's head. "We have a problem, Master Fowl." Butler explained as a couple of FBI investigators strode in behind him. "Ah, good evening. To what do I owe this pleasure?" Artemis asked calmly. Beneath his ribcage, his heart hammered. He had learned to master his emotions, but not his body. It always seemed that he could not have total control of his being at a given time like this. He could always meditate, but in this situation, he had to act fast. "We're agent Holoman and Graphete. You could owe at least 10 different banks thousands of dollars, Fowl!" The shorter man growled. Artemis raised a brow in his most profound expression of emotion that day. "Oh? Please, do tell me which banks you speak of…the ones in France, Germany? I've visited so many. But please, tell me why I would owe them money." Artemis said softly. "We traced the signal, and we have the authority to take the computer you own and search it's history for any signs of hacking." Graphete seethed. Artemis let his shoulders relax; his laptop was not the same as the twenty others he had used to rob the banks electronically. He surrendered the laptop without protest and leaned back in his chair as the FBI investigators took their leave for a few hours. Artemis eyed Butler and noted, with a slight amusement, his expression. "What's troubling you, old friend?" "A-Artemis, if they see any trace of network hacking, they could put you in prison." Artemix slowly let a wicked smile spread across his handsome features. "Not to worry, Butler. I always have a trick up my sleeve."

In the meantime, Juliet was up in her room, attempting to do math problems assigned to her in school that day. Juliet was not focused, however. Her mind drifted to the thing she was deprived of, the thing that she longed for and dreaded eating at the same time. She never thought that food could control her, but she was slowly realizing that it already had.


	2. Chapter 2

It wasn't the first time that Artemis had gotten away with robbing a bank of massive amounts of money, but he still felt the same guilt. It ate away at him slowly, but he had learned long ago that to put logic over emotion was the best choice. His father had once been as he was now, a criminal and a liar. Both of them were brilliant, only a fool would doubt it, but they had a great deal of immorality. Artemis listened carefully to something above his study ceiling. It was a peculiar sound, almost like somebody coughing up fluids. He let his curiosity get the better of him and strode upstairs to the room above the study. Fowl manner had five bathrooms, all of which were not shared with anybody else. Juliet had her own right above the study. Artemis gently knocked on the door. There was no answer, and the door was locked. Artemis Fowl II could only assume that the person inside was unconscious after ten minutes of waiting and knocking. He called for Butler, who knocked the door in with his shoulder. On the floor lay a pale and unmoving Juliet. Butlers' normal calm broke for a few seconds as he took in the scene. Blood, and much of it, was in the toilet bowl. He immediately called 911 and waited with Artemis for an ambulance.

Juliet's first perception of the world was a steady beeping that was washed out by voices. The words, at first, were incoherent. She remembered swirls hypnotizing her. The red spirals that laced the usual food pieces. She then identified the two voices. Dr. Blake and Butler. "She's stable now, but we really must keep her for at least 24 hours, to ensure that this is not something that's been going on for long." Dr. Blake told a restless Butler. It is not easy to give such news to a 300 pound bodyguard, but Dr. Blake was not hesitant to give facts. Butler was in shock; his sister had seemed normal. She was losing weight, but not at an alarming rate. Butler could only look upon his sister now. She was, for her age, looking pretty bad. Her skin was pale and starting to scale, and looking at the space beneath her bloodshot eyes, Butler noticed that there was a yellow tinge. Her hair had once been shiny and strong, but was slowly starting to grow frizzy. A moan passed her chapped lips and formed one word, "D-Dom…" "I'm here now. How are you feeling?" Butler gripped her hand tightly. "I'm kinda out of it. What happened?" she asked. "We found you-Artemis and I-on the bathroom floor with vomit and blood near you. Care to explain?" Butler asked, ready for answers. Juliet looked away and didn't say a word. "You're something else! I'm worried about you, the doctor wants to know what's going on, and you're acting like a five year old!" Butler snapped after trying to get her to talk for five minutes. "No, I'm not. Just leave me alone. Why do you care? Since when have you cared?" Juliet snapped. "Since I was your brother!" Butler retaliated. A silence swept over the room. Light and precise footsteps entered the room and a chair was pulled close to Juliet's bed. She opened her bloodshot eyes and stared into glacier blue eyes. "Juliet, rather than pleading with you, I will give you some facts. I find it highly unusual that a supposedly healthy 18 year old girl would vomit blood and lose consciousness. I also have observed some of your recent behaviors…like not eating in front of others. The truth is that I am beginning to suspect bulimia, which does involve self-induced vomiting, which can lead to tears in the esophagus. This causes bleeding, which, if heavy enough, can render one unconscious. I believe that the more you do this, the more hospital visits you will earn. However, if you are unwilling to admit to what you've been doing, a thorough medical examination will prove that you have been abusing your body; the body tells the truth while the mind creates lies. I have ordered some testing." Juliet was at a loss for words. Normally, she could manipulate people using emotions, but Artemis was at a higher level of functioning than any adult she had seen. She nodded her head silently and closed her thin lids, falling into a nightmarish series of red swirls.


	3. Chapter 3

Juliet woke up after a few more hours of sleep and took a look at herself in the mirror. Pale, skinny, and almost skeletal, Juliet was rather pleased with herself. Control was her very tether to this earth, to her sanity, even. She remembered well how good it felt to step on that scale every Saturday morning and see the number go down. She could be acceptable and loved, even extraordinary to the people she loved. The brother who lectured her constantly on responsibility, the Mistress of Fowl Manor, and Artemis Fowl II were all those who she simply could not please for some reason. She was seen as a nuisance, at best, and she always heard that from Mistress Fowl when she was unwell. As for Artemis, she was surprised that he even showed concern for her. Why would he have visited her? She stared out at the snow and seemed to remember the stare he had. It was almost as beautiful as the snow.

Winter is cold, beautiful, impossible to touch without ruining its perfect white ice. Juliet, although self-destructive, was Winter to Artemis. She was, indeed, untouchable. So fragile at this point, he believed that touching her would cause her to melt away. Not only did the agreement between the Butler and Fowl families forbid affairs, but Juliet's bulimia had made her impossible to reach. Artemis thought of her often, and every once in a while, what it would be like to see her in a casket. He tried many times to erase the image from his mind, but he could not.

After a few days, he decided to pay Juliet a visit. He had the test results-they were, of course, horrific. He fully intended to show these to her. This time, the arrogant smirk on his face was replaced by something that Butler had never seen on his face before: concern. The furrowed brow and drawn down corners of his mouth made him look almost paternal. Butler had to think twice about what he said to Artemis on the way to the hospital to visit Juliet. "Master Fowl, I believe that it would be best to withhold these results from-"I will do as I please!" Artemis cut him off.

Snow danced on the breeze outside of Juliets' window. She heard a sharp knock at the door and called for the person to come in. Without any kind of speech, Artemis made his presence clear. The air became stiffer and cool. Juliets' hair stood up and she didn't meet his gaze. She would have seen pain in his eyes had she bothered to look. "Juliet, at this rate, you'll be in a casket by the time you're 30. These results…they show how much destruction you have done. I never told you this, but-"Juliet, it's time for your meds." A charming young nurse strolled in with a tray of pills, all of which were for some gradually depleting system in Juliets' body. She quickly swallowed them without the milk that the nurse offered her. Artemis did all he could not to grab Juliet and shake her out of the trance she was in. It was typical, as he had read in so many medical journals, for the malnourished individual to be in a daze. He knew that the only way to show Juliet how much he cared for her was to help her. "So while you swallow your pills, I suggest that you listen to me. Juliet, I care about you. I didn't realize this until you nearly died, and that's my fault. But now I can show you that I need you around. Butler is your only sibling, and I trust that he wouldn't like the thought of attending your funeral. I wont hesitate to have you committed to the psychiatric ward if this happens again!" He would have continued had it not been for a choked sob from Juliet. "I-I didn't mean for it to end this way! I only wanted to be that beautiful girl in the magazine, or that model on the runway! I knew that once I started this, I couldn't turn back. Every time I just wanted a meal, the room wouldn't stop tilting until the food was gone. But now, I don't know anymore! I don't have that brilliant mind or talent that others see in all of the girls at school. I just wanted to have one thing that I could control! But its' the food, Artemis! It does something to me!" Juliet rushed. Artemis contemplated for a few moments. "Juliet, I feel that you need to speak with somebody who can help you. If you truly believe all of the things you have just told me, you need help. I cannot give that to you-that would make me bias. I couldn't make professional decisions because we are so close. But know that I will not leave your side. I have come too far to have this happen to you now. I want you to read this while I am away. I will visit you before your discharge tomorrow." Juliet felt a light thump on her bandy legs before she heard Artemis leave. She opened the manila folder on her lap and saw pictures, endless pictures, of damaged organs. She cringed and read some of the pages beneath. The organs were hers. Up until this point, she had not realized the truth-she was dying, and she was the reason for that.

In her nightmarish world of red swirls, Juliet heard them again. "Shut up! We don't need you! We wasted all of that time on a bitch like you!" the crashing of glass echoed and red swirls encompassed her parents forms, standing over her with sneers. She felt a sharp stab of pain as the cup made contact with her shoulder. She wailed as a kick stabbed her side and sent her rolling in tears on the tiled floor. "Shut your trap before the neighbors hear! Shut it!" her father bellowed. "No, leave me alone!" She wailed, curling up into a hopeless ball. "You'll never be our child! Rot in hell for all we care!" finally, her parents turned and stormed into the black hallway. Juliet lay as if dead for the next few minutes as the slam of a car door was heard and the engine rolled away. She picked herself up and miserably went to examine the damage in the bathroom mirror. "Fat pig! Stop crying!" she sniffled at the 12 year old wreck. She heard a gentle knock at the door and answered it, staring up at her massive brother. "Juliet, what happened? Don't cry, please…just tell me." Juliet's eyes shot open and she panted as her heart slowed down from its racing. She curled up on her side and stared out the window at the full moon. The silver beams danced through the window and bathed her in an eerie glow. She sniffled and curled up into a ball, trying to repeat the comforting words in her head over and over: "They're gone, they're gone…"


	4. Chapter 4

_An ambient set of blue orbs drifted through the black passageway that Artemis Fowl II skimmed. He was fully aware that he was dreaming and was quite used to lucid dreams, but he also knew that he could not wake up for some reason. He wanted to see what was at the end of that passage. He soon came upon a glowing blue body of water. He heard a whisper of his name, barely audible. He waded into the shallow end of the water, feeling a sweep of seaweed encircle his ankles. He looked down and saw drifting white swirls about his ankles. He bent down and grasped at them, only to pull back in shock as his fingers met resistance. The bubbles started to struggle towards the surface and Artemis stepped back. After that, tere came the chill up his leg. It penetrated the layers of pale skin and sent ice to his bone. The desperate grasp of a thin hand on his leg caused his head to snap towards it's source. He wished that he had not looked down, for beneath him lay Juliet. But this member of the living dead could not be Juliet. Juliet looked like a summer day—bright and sunny with cool ocean blue eyes that enthralled him. This was different. The skin was stretched like spandex over bone. The twisted grin on the skeletons' face was missing teeth, and the ones that remained were pitiful slithers of ebony. "Am I beautiful, now, Artemis? Am I skinny enough? I only want to be prettythin." Artemis felt his heart skip a few beats and then begin racing. He struggled to get her off, but to no avail. He instead sunk beneath the water and felt the hair wrap around him. He struggled and thrashed against black slimy water and the seaweed hair. He kicked in slow forceful motions, but soon the air escaped from his burning lungs. He thought desperately to himself. I have to wake up…I have to go back…I want to be with you, not with death! Juliet, please, wake up, wake up!_

Artemis' eyes snapped open, and he was in a cold sweat. He tried to shake the cold sweat off but he found his teeth chattering slightly. A primal drive made his thin legs swing over the side of his large bed. He didn't notice that the sheets of Egyptian cotton were soaked with sweat stains. He swung around the shadowed corners of the mansion hallways. He felt the moonbeams burning on his skin, and his eyes darted wildly. The sound of his feet echoed his heart in a rapid pattern of _thump thump thump thump. _He practically kicked Juliet's door in. His adrenaline allowed him to hear the slightest noises of Juliet waking with a start. A light snapped on and revealed Juliet's unhealthy frame taking in a gasp of shock. Artemis looked 20 pounds heavier but ten times worse than Juliet; his black hair disarrayed, his blue eyes rolling towards her in desperation. "Master Fowl? What is it?" Juliet thought back to the episode of dropping a dish after dinner, suddenly feeling guilty. How expensive were the Fowl family's plates? "Y-you, you're not a member of the living dead!" Artemis gasped in the suddenly heavy air. "Y-you'll get treatment, and I will see personally to that! Nobody wants your teeth to fall out, your hair to be seaweed! I won't let you choke it out of me!" Artemis ranted and panted for a few moments to a bewildered Juliet. "Artemis, you're losing sleep over me. I'm so sorry." Juliet sniffled and climbed out of bed to embrace Artemis. He relaxed after a few moments and realized two things: he was speaking utter lunacy to his housemaid and he had woken not only Juliet, but Butler as well. Butler's gargantuan frame blocked the doorway in case Artemis was a thief who would try to escape. "What the Hell are you doing? It's 2:00 am! "Butler, old friend, sorry to wake you! Please understand, I was merely upset." Artemis could do many things, but he could never lie to Butler, which made this whole situation very awkward. "I see, Master Fowl. Please allow me escort you back to your bedchamber. Juliet, go back to sleep, we have a lot to speak about tomorrow." Butler shot his sister a suspicious look before escorting Artemis back to his sweat-stained bedroom.

"Master Fowl, what was that last night? Did you seriously have some kind of nightmare with Juliet in it?" Butler asked suspiciously as Artemis took small bites of his omelet. "Yes, Butler, in case you have not learned this already, which I highly doubt, people are in a altered state of consciousness when in the REM phase of sleep. I was merely delusional in my moment of dreaming. Perhaps my adrenaline permitted me to break into her room and put on that performance. I must apologize for that, old friend, I truly meant no harm by it." Artemis answered Butler in the same manner as usual, curt and cold. Butler nodded and left the young Master Fowl to finish breakfast before school. Juliet, who had not been able to attend school based on the hospitals orders, was going to have a long day of doctors offices ahead of her. It was about time to wake her up. Before he had the chance to climb up the stairs to retrieve her, Juliet ran past him and into the kitchen. Artemis took note of her frenzied state and sat back, ready to watch the second half of the show he had begun last night. "Artemis, help me!" Juliet cried, collapsing onto the tabletop. "Juliet, I have no intention of covering up your eating habits or food-hoarding." Artemis stated firmly. But Juliet was not thinking about hiding peanut butter cookies and cereal boxes in the drawers of her room at the moment. She was grasping at her chest and gasping for air. Artemis took only a second to make the connection and before he could pick up the phone, Butler had already dialed the well-used number: 911.


End file.
